Teams ‘sail away’ in homecoming tug boat race
GVL / Eric Coulter Greek members participate in the Pool Game Homecoming event on Wednesday. Pictured here is the tug boat race, where tam members had to tow a person in a raft.
Oct 21, 2012
This year’s “Come Sail Away” themed homecoming week at Grand Valley State University would not have been complete without some competition in the water.
Thirteen of the homecoming teams competed in a ring dive contest, a tug boat race and a four-legged relay at GVSU’s pool in the Fieldhouse on Oct. 17.
The stands were filled with students cheering on their teammates in each of the events.
“I enjoyed watching the tug boat race,” said Chelsea Pulice, a GVSU homecoming coordinator. “Some of the techniques were good, and some were just bad.”
The tug boat race was chosen as a non-traditional pool game. Pulice said the homecoming planners worked to incorporate some traditional pool events as well as some fun and different events.
The relay was chosen as a classic pool event. This event brought back memories for many competitors with swimming background.
“It’s been a while since I’ve competed in the pool,” said Zack Waugh, a member of the SS ShipShakers team. “It brought back the adrenaline I remember from high school.”
Other competitors enjoyed the relay for its high level of competition. This event was the most intense of the three events in the pool.
“I really enjoyed the freestyle leg of the relay,” said Yanathan Mengsteab a member of The Nina, The Pinta, and The Santa Maria team. “I used to compete in high school, competition is in my blood.”
Nautical but Nice claimed the number one spot at the end of the four-legged relay competition, but did not place in the other two events.
Many of the competitors were jumping back into the pool after competing in high school some teams had the advantage of having GVSU swimmers on theeir team.
The Topsiders, who took first place in both the ring dive and tug boat contests, were one of the lucky teams to have GVSU swimmers on their team.
Though they were unable to clench a win in the four-legged relay, The Topsiders took 46 points for their team at the end of the pool games, the highest amount of points awarded that night.
S.S. Boatwood on the Tides of Tuscola placed second for the evening with 38 points overall, and Bros, Boats and Bows came in third with 34 points at the end of the night.
